(ATR) A candid report from the IOC places doubt over the viability of the 2022 Winter Olympics in either Almaty or Beijing.
The report from the IOC Evaluation Commission, released Monday, details the strengths of each of the two finalist cities as well as the stark challenges the Winter Games will face in either locale.
In Beijing, the dependence on manufactured snow, worry about pollution and concerns about the athlete experience are major issues, says the report.
Almaty also faces pollution concerns, as well as lack of accommodations, doubts about finance and marketing and worries about transport to mountain venues.
On the plus side, the report says Almaty offers plenty of snow and a compact venue plan. Beijing presents a solid financial plan as well as existing venues and experience from hosting the 2008 Olympics as well as the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.
Human rights concerns exist in both cities with the report mentioning criticism from the UN and NGOs about the treatment of arrested persons.
Almaty and Beijing are the two remaining cities from a field that began with six candidates two years ago. One by one, the other cities dropped out when they could not secure public and government support for the bid.
The report of the IOC commission comes one week before IOC members will gather in Lausanne for the technical briefing from the bids. The IOC meets again to make the final choice on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In a new format for the IOC evaluation commission report, the findings are organized in five areas: Vision and Concept,The Foundation, Games Delivery, Paralympic Games and The Athlete Experience.
Within the sections, specific areas such as Olympic Villages, accommodation, transportation, sustainability, marketing and venue plans are treated with greater detail.
Throughout the report, boxes of text highlight the opportunities and the risks/challenges for each subject.
The report makes no direct comparisons nor ratings, allowing readers to make their own conclusions about the suitability of each city.
The IOC commission is chaired by Alexander Zhukov, IOC member in Russia and the president of the Russian Olympic Committee. The 11-member commission includes three other IOC members: Barry Maister of New Zealand, Adam Pengilly from Great Britain and Tsunekazu Takeda, Japan IOC member and president of the Japanese national Olympic committee.
Other members of the commission represent NOCs, the Paralympics and international federations.
The commission travel to Kazakhstan in February for one week followed by one week in early March in Beijing.
If neither city is found suitable, there is still another outside-the-box solution to consider.
Written by Ed Hula
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